The Swiss Federal Criminal Court on February 19 granted the Armenian Prosecutor General's Office's request for legal assistance in an ongoing corruption investigation into several former and current Yerevan police officers. 

The officers (former Deputy Head of the Road Police Artur Tonoyan and Deputy Head of the Police Economic Department Ara Kotoghyan) are accused of receiving bribes from a company to rig the award of a public contract for license plates.

Gotham City, a Swiss online magazine specializing in  economic crime, reports that according to court documents, Armenian law enforcement agencies had asked Switzerland to provide data on financial transactions between Atlas International Holding AG, a joint-stock company registered in that country, and two Armenian companies.

Atlas International Holding AG specializes in the production of road safety technologies, road signs, video cameras and auto registration plates.

Court documents revealed that from 2011 to 2019, Atlas International Holding AG transferred $3,132,698 and €106,636 from its Swiss bank account to the accounts of Art-Lar Finance and Accounting and Art-Lar Finance LLCs.

Armenian companies’ connection with Atlas International Holding AG

The Swiss company Atlas International Holding AG has a stake in two Armenian companies: Bill Stone and Art-Lar Finance and Accounting LLCs.

Bill Stone LLC was founded in 2005 by Liana Sahakyan and Larisa Vardanyan. From 2008 to 2013, the company was fully owned by Andrey Igonin, a citizen of Russia.

On December 26, 2013, 70% of the company's shares were transferred to Atlas International Holding AG, registered in Switzerland in the same year, and 30% to Art-Lar Finance and Accounting LLC, registered in Armenia. According to the 2024 declaration of beneficial owners of Bill Stone LLC, 79.21% of the company's shares belong to German citizen Arthur Conrad, and 21.79% to Larisa Ananyan.

Art-Lar Finance and Accounting LLC was founded in May 2006 by Larisa Ananyan and Arman Varosyan. Since February 2018, 48% of the company's shares also belong to Atlas International Holding AG, and 52% to Larisa Ananyan. According to the 2025 declaration of the true owners, 52% of Art-Lar Finance and Accounting LLC belongs to Artur Konrad, 48% to Larisa Ananyan.

The connection between Artur Tonoyan and Artur Konrad

In 2019, Armenia’s Special Investigation Service (SIS) charged Deputy Chief of the Road Police Artur Tonoyan under Article 195, Part 2, Clause 3 and Article 308, Part 1 of Armenia’s Criminal Code, i.e., the abuse of official authority and obstruction of the competitive environment.

According to the indictment, Tonoyan facilitated the monopolization of the market for the supply of vehicle license plates in Armenia, thus limiting competition. As a result, the state suffered losses of some 67 million drams.

The SIS revealed that Artur Tonoyan had close relations with Artur Conrad, a German citizen, who had been supplying vehicle registration plates to Armenia’s Traffic Police Service for more than twenty years, and with Bill Stone LLC Director David Israelyan, which he operated with his participation.

The second defendant in this case is Ara Kotoghyan, Deputy Head of the Economic Department of the Police, who was also the Chairman of the State Procurement Evaluation Commission. Ara Kotoghyan is charged under Part 2 of Article 308 (Abuse of Official Powers) of the former Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia.

According to the indictment, Kotoghyan, in order not to spoil relations with the leadership of the Road Police (RTP) Service, instead of bringing the procurement application prepared by the RTP in gross violation of the requirements of the procurement legislation and submitted to the Economic Department of the RA Police into compliance with the requirements of the legislation, included in the procurement procedure a description of the procurement subject prepared by Deputy Head of the RTP Artur Tonoyan, which corresponded to the technical capabilities of “BILL-STONE” LLC, thus essentially predetermining the future victory of that company in any procurement process.

The third defendant in this case is Artak Varosyan, the director of Art-Lar Finance & Accounting and Art-Lar Finance LLCs.

According to the indictment, in 2011-2019, he signed four fake contracts with Atlas International Holding AG, thanks to which he received some $3.3 million, but did not list these amounts in his tax reports. As a result, AMD 276 million in taxes were not paid to the state budget (577 million drams with fines). In addition, according to the indictment, Varosyan tried to mislead investigators by submitting false documents.

Despite this legal process, Arthur Conrad founded another company in Armenia in December 2024. According to the declaration of the real owners of the company Motus Production and Trade, the sole participant is   Motus Capital Free Zone Company, which has five shareholders.

 Arthur Conrad has a 60% stake in the company. What company does is not clear, but it is registered with Armenia’s State Revenue Committee as “providing other services.”

What impact the Swiss court’s decision will have on this case remains to be seen. However, it may provide additional evidence to Armenian law enforcement agencies to uncover the full picture of these financial schemes.

Collage: Deputy Chief of the Traffic Police Artur Tonoyan (by Nare Petrosyan)